Although the Acer Aspire 1830T-3721's physical footprint3-pound frame and 11.6-inch widescreenfits the description of a netbook, its $700 (street) price tag would say otherwise. This ultraportable is actually a CULV laptop, as the Core i5-430um is part of Intel's newest Consumer Ultra Low Voltage processors and the primary reason why it's so much more expensive than an Atom-based netbook. It's speedy, yet energy-efficient, pumping out over 8 hours of battery life. World travelers who question the performance of a netbook should no doubt consider this as their next laptop.

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Design
Reflective, shiny plastics were once the "it" thing in laptop designs, but, now, they are taking a back seat to textures and metals. The 1830T-3721 applies textures to its black plastics, giving it the feel of fabric. Alienware designed the M11x (Core i7) ($1,175 direct, ) in a similar fashion, except the alien theme is a hundred times more menacing, and its plastics are coated with a rubbery texture. The 1830T-3721's design is low-key and resistant to fingerprints and other unsightly marks. It's a better looking design than the matted black found in the Lenovo ThinkPad X100e ($549 direct, ) and more current than the brown, shiny plastics found on the MSI X-Slim X420 ($800 street, ). Metals, which are more expensive and attractive, can be found in CULV laptops like the Asus UL80VT-A1 ($823 street, ) and Asus UL30A-A1 ($775 street, ). At 3 pounds, the 1830T-3721 is lighter than the ThinkPad X100e (3.2 lbs) and M11x (4.7 lbs), even though all of them have the same screen size. And it's over a pound lighter than the Asus UL80VT-A1, MSI X420, and Asus UL30A-A1, since the other three have screens that are two to three sizes bigger.

The 11.6-inch widescreen is the size of the one found in the Lenovo X100e and Fujitsu LifeBook P3010 ($549 direct, ), so you can understand why it can be mistaken for a netbook at first glance. The screen is meant to be used with a one application window open at a time and isn't as accommodating as 13- and 14-inch widescreens, like those found in the Asus UL30-A1 and MSI X420. Like the Lenovo X100e, the 1830T-3721 is roomy enough to support a full-size keyboard. The individual keys don't wrap themselves around your fingers like the ones on the Lenovo X100e, although they're slightly bigger in size. A full size keyboard leaves little room for the navigating components, but Acer wrapped the mouse buttons around the front bezel and did its best to maximize the size of the touchpad. However, they're considerably smaller and inferior to the navigating experiences found in the Asus UL80VT-A1 and Lenovo X100e.

Features
Ports and features exceeded expectationsat least for an 11-inch laptop. The standouts included an HDMI port and 500GB hard drive, features that Acer could have skimped on but didn't. It made room for 3 USB ports and included all the usual laptop connectivity options, such as a multimedia card reader, Ethernet, VGA, and audio ports (mic, headphone). The pair of speakers, located on the bottom beneath the palm rests, lacked any bass or oomph. The laptop's svelte dimensions didn't leave room for an internal DVD burner either, although it's not like you'll find one in the Lenovo X100e, Asus UL80Vt-1A, and MSI X420, either.

It was only recently that Intel updated its CULV processors to the latest Core technology. Since then, only a handful of systems have used these processors, as they're still pricey. The 1830T-3721 runs on an Intel Core i5-430um, and though its 1.2GHz clock rating may not seem lightning fast, the technology behind this processor is more advanced than the Core 2 Duos found in the Asus UL80Vt-1A and MSI X420. It's speedier than the AMD Athlon Neo processor found in the Lenovo X100e, which I consider an equivalent to the Intel Atom found in netbooks. And unlike netbooks, the 1810T comes standard with 4GB of DDR3 memory.

Performance
In video encoding tests, the 1830T-3721 finished in 1 minute 26 seconds, which is 14% faster than the MSI X420 (1:40) and almost three times as fast as the Lenovo X100e (3:49) and Asus UL30A-A1 (3:11). Its PCMark Vantage score (3,897) beat out the Asus UL80Vt-1A (3,698) and MSI X420 (2,774), but fell short against the faster CULV variant found in the Alienware M11X (5,261). Because it has native over-clocking software built in, the Asus UL80Vt-1A had a slight advantage in Photoshop CS4 and video encoding test. Still, the 1830T-3721 is perfectly capable of running Photoshop CS4 and editing HD video. It's not a gaming laptop, though. This 3D-intensive task is best handled by the Alienware M11x or the MSI X420, both of which run on more powerful graphics chips.

CULV processors are supposed to offer the ideal balance between speed and energy efficiency, but I would argue that the scale leans heavily towards the latter. With a 58WH battery (6-cell), the 1830T-3721 scored an impressive 8 hours 13 minutes in MobileMark 2007 tests. It lasted longer than the MSI X420 (7:43) and Alienware M11x (5:21), but was no match against the batteries found in the Asus UL80Vt-A1 (10:10) and Asus UL30A-A1 (10:27).

It's easy to mistake the Acer Aspire 1830T-3721 for a netbook, as the 11.6-inch widescreen and 3-pound frame are features of one. However, beyond its looks lies one of Intel's newest CULV processors, which is fast enough to please any performance enthusiast, while battery efficient enough to last through a multi-legged flight. If you need a bigger screen, better battery life, and a sleeker frame, the Asus UL80VT-A1 is the better pick and even more formidable when it upgrades to the new Core processors.

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